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London Waterloo East railway station
Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007. It stands on the western side of Waterloo railway station, London. It was managed and branded separately from the mainline station. Designed by the architectural firm Grimshaw Architects over five years, it cost £135 million and was completed in May 1993, in time for the scheduled completion of the Channel Tunnel. Construction of the Tunnel was delayed however, and the station did not open until November 1994, when it won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Building of the Year award. Waterloo International has five platforms, numbered 20 to 24, one (20) taken from the mainline station, and four new ones, all covered by a new 400 m long glass and steel vault of 37 arches forming a prismatic structure, conceived by Anthony Hunt Associates. A two-level reception area fronts the main station concourse. The first Eurostar departure, on 14 November 1994, was formed of Eurostar units 373004/373003 and the last service left at 18.12 GMT on 13 November 2007 for Brussels. From the next day Eurostar services used their new London terminus of St Pancras International. Ownership of Waterloo International station passed to BRB (Residuary) Ltd.. Future use of all the Eurostar platforms is unclear. Some reports had suggested that they might be used for shops, but a parliamentary written answer of 4 June 2008 stated platform 20 was to be used by some South West Trains services from December 2008.Waterloo Station: 4 June 2008: Written answers (TheyWorkForYou.com) Network Rail has no immediate plans to use the other four former international platforms for domestic use http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/3042 and the platforms have not been used since November 2007.http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/3567 The Railway Children From 4 July 2010 to 2 January 2011http://www.railwaychildrenwaterloo.com/home/performance/ two of the disused platforms hosted theatrical performances of E. Nesbit's The Railway Children. The audience was seated either side of the actual railway track. The show includes the use of a steam engine, coupled to one of the original carriages from the 1970s film, being shunted in and out of the theatre area as required by a Class 08 shunter. The performance moved to London after two sell out and critically acclaimed summer runs at the National Railway Museum in York. See also * List of closed railway stations in London * Network Rail Gallery Image:Farewell_Waterloo_Eurostar.JPG|Farewell message from Eurostar to its Waterloo terminus, early December 2007. File:London Waterloo Internation after closure.jpg|Waterloo International in early January 2008, at night. File:Waterloo International after closure front.JPG|Waterloo International May 2008, during the day. Image:Waterloo from London Eye.jpg|Waterloo station from the London Eye with Waterloo International at the bottom of the picture. Image:London Waterloo former Eurostar station.JPG|The disused Waterloo tracks in 2010. In film * The station is shown repeatedly in The Russian Dolls (Les Poupées russes), as the main character Xavier commutes frequently, by rail, between Paris and London. * In Mr Bean's Holiday, Mr Bean sets out on this holiday from Waterloo International. * In The Bourne Ultimatum, Jason Bourne arrives from Paris and steps out onto Waterloo International's Eurostar platforms. Further action takes place in the rest of Waterloo station. * In Beyblade in the season one episode "The darkness at the end of the tunnel", the gang catch a train to Paris from Waterloo International. References Category:Railway stations opened in 1994 Category:Railway stations closed in 2007 Category:Eurostar railway stations Category:Disused railway stations in Lambeth de:Bahnhof Waterloo#Waterloo International it:Waterloo International ja:ウォータールー駅#旧ウォータールー国際駅 sk:Medzinárodný železničný terminál Waterloo